There’s a Q&A in the Washington Post with Dr. Michael Blanpied, who is a geophysicist with the USGS earthquake hazards program.
He answered all of the questions really well, I think, which covered some things I’ve been hearing a lot lately – mostly about animals predicting earthquakes (answer: not really) and if earthquakes have been increasing in frequency.
Native Californian: Are there REALLY more and/or stronger earthquakes and tsunamis lately, or are they just better reported than decades ago (especially the ones occurring in remote land areas or under-sea)?
Dr. Michael Blanpied: There are really three main reasons why we’re seeing more news about deadly earthquakes. First is that the quality of reporting is much higher. Second is that we’re able to record them better due to global digital seismic networks that report data in real time. Third is that more and more people live in quake-prone areas, so earthquakes are more likely to strike vulnerable populations than was the case decades ago.
It’s not surprising that the frequency of quakes is on peoples’ minds right now, considering we’ve had two major earthquakes that have been well-covered by the media in two months. I can’t even begin to imagine the general freak-out level if this were 2012 instead of 2010.